Hockey: Coaches' reunion ends in stalemate

Thursday

Jan 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM

NEW BEDFORD — For the vast majority of the 17 years they stood together behind the Bishop Stang bench, coaches Tim Drew and Eric Labonte won many more games than they lost. So it was a tad ironic that, when they faced each other for the first time as opponents on Wednesday night, it was the seventh game of the season and both were still looking for their second win. That neither one of them got it seemed poetic.

Mick Colageo

NEW BEDFORD — For the vast majority of the 17 years they stood together behind the Bishop Stang bench, coaches Tim Drew and Eric Labonte won many more games than they lost. So it was a tad ironic that, when they faced each other for the first time as opponents on Wednesday night, it was the seventh game of the season and both were still looking for their second win. That neither one of them got it seemed poetic.

It was almost a Stang victory with a 2-1 lead in the final seconds of regulation time, but Old Rochester/Fairhaven senior left winger Cam O'Connor beat the clock with a rebound goal with .6 seconds remaining, forcing a 2-2 tie.

Thanks to outstanding goaltending from ORR/Fairhaven freshman Chris Nadeau and Stang junior Jesse Pavao, the game looked like it might go wire to wire without a red light until Zack Way broke the ice for Stang with a putback at 11:02 of the second period. Tristin Costa and Aaron Ayers assisted.

Cam Severino, who factored in both ORR goals, tied it for the Bulldogs on the power play at 4:44 of the third period, but Stang countered 24 seconds later when Luc Sauve redirected Jon Noonan's tumbler from the slot.

Energized, puck lugger David Skarbek and the Spartans pressed for more and only Nadeau kept the Bulldogs hanging on. Pavao also did his job, turning away Jeremy Lawton when the sophomore center was looking to capitalize on a late Stang turnover.

WHAT IT MEANS: The game closed a lengthy chapter for Drew (Stang) and Labonte, but the non-league result won't make or break either team's season. "We can't (overrate it) because our biggest game of the season is Saturday, a league game against Bourne," said Labonte, pointing to the distance between his team's 1-4-2 record and the MIAA's .500 rule. "The reality is, for us to make the tournament, we're going to have to win (the South Coast Conference)." It's a similar scenario for Stang (1-3-3), playing in the Eastern Athletic Conference.

KEY PLAY OF THE GAME: Too many to count, but the last one mattered most. Nadeau was pulled for an extra attacker with 53.3 seconds remaining in regulation, and the man advantage was doubled when Josh St. Martin was whistled off for boarding with 27.5 seconds left. Pavao made a brilliant stop on the 6-on-4, but O'Connor's putback of Zack Mathews' shot went in with fractions still ticking.

SOUTHCOASTVARSITY.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: Nadeau kept the Bulldogs in it, stopping 28 of 30 shots, most of which were high-quality chances. The freshman had missed ORR's last two games with illness and was on the ice for the first time in a week.

LABONTE: "I was telling kids in the locker room — we do kind of a neutral-zone defense — and I said, 'When you hear somebody yell neutral zone, don't assume it's me because it's probably Coach Drew,' doing the same thing that I did."

DREW: "It wouldn't have expected anything less. As coaches, we've both known each other so long, why wouldn't it end up in a tie?"

NOTES: Due to a scheduling mishap, the game slated for 5 p.m. face-off started at 5:37. Replacement stripes Paul Goguen and Andrew Parent answered on emergency notice and called a clean game.